User blog:John Pan/BMP-120
BMP-120 While the Russian heavy vehicle doctrine has always been (for the past eighty years) to keep weight and size minimal, the Imperium let the increase in weight and size slip, as long as protection and firepower increased proportionally. Which has led to the -120 series, all sharing the same chassis. And all weighing in past 70 tons. Believe it or not, the 76-ton BMP-120 is the most subtle vehicle of its family. Crew Composition *Driver *Gunner *Commander *Bench, 3 Strelki/2 Shock Strelki *Bench, 3 Strelki/2 Shock Strelki The rear of the vehicle gets a heavily-armored hydraulic/gravity-operated ramp, which leads into the incredibly well-armored (but small and cramped) passenger cocoon. Sensory The tank gunner gets a modified day/night sighting system which includes a nightvision-capable telescope and laser range finder. The Driver gets a nightvision-capable navigation camera to assist his forward driving. A commander's independent sight is standard. The IFV also gets a GLONASS “Blue-force” tracker/ navigation system. Upgrades Thermal Sight Adds an additional thermal-imaging camera to the fire control system, increasing detection and engagement of targets at night. Armament 2A38M (1) Drawing from 2000 rounds of 30mm x165mm HEPF and APDS-T, the 2A38M guns can provide a deadly curtain of fire against anything from infantry to light vehicles to low-flying enemy aircraft. The rate-of-fire in of the 2A38 in the BMP-120 is tuned down to 600rpm to enhance barrel life and prolong reloading. Kord (1) The Kord is a powerful 12.7mm HMG. Fitted with a large 400-round magazine and able to be operated via remote control from inside the vehicle, it provides supple firepower against infantry and keeps the operator safe from sniper fire. Upgrades Remove Gun Governor Allows the 2A38M to fire at an uninhibited 2,500 rpm. Shreds armored vehicles like paper. Protection The BMP-120's armor is where the design truly shines. The entire chassis is made of high-strength steel (containing 8% molybdenum) alloy, providing incredible levels of tensile strength for half the weight of normal steel. Packing a prominent shchuka prow on the front glacis plate, the front is protected against 40mm APFSDS rounds—even before the spaced composite armor modules are added. Then, pile on steel-titanium-ceramic composite armor (complete with layers of impact-absorbing gel) and Relikt ERA, and now the hull has about 2100mm RHAe on its glacis. Yes, that's right, over two meters of RHA equivalent. Counter-EMP grounding is also present. A specialized composite v-shaped undercarriage protects the vehicle from mine threats, flexing instead of breaking if pushed beyond its maximum strength. Upgrades Kulak ERA Translating into “Fist,” Kulak is the latest development in explosive reactive armor tiles. Combining a crescent-shaped explosive and crescent-shaped steel plate, the Kulak creates a directed explosion upon detonation. This allows it to shear kinetic energy penetrators in half, greatly increasing protection against APFSDS rounds. Opekun Hardkill ECM While Arena functions well, it's old—too slow to target hypersonic missiles, nor can it engage more than one incoming projectile. To solve this, the Imperium designed a next-generation active defense system: Opekun. Translating into “Guardian,” Opekun is a next-generation hardkill ECM that uses a hemispherical IR suite and a LADAR to detect and target threats. Thanks to a trajectory calculation system, it will ignore all threats that are unable to hit the vehicle (unlike Arena that shot at everything in range). Then, it's up to four clusters of eighteen interceptors to blow it out of the sky. Opekun can process up to twenty targets and reacts fast enough to take out Mach 3+ missiles. Mobility The BMP-120, like the rest of its chassis family, mounts a 50-liter direct-injected twin-turbocharged diesel V-12 engine. The engine, along with its dedicated damage control armor and fire suppressant equipment, sits in the front of the vehicle, right behind the ultra-thick glacis plate. It's mated to an electric generator, which converts the engine's 1750 horses into electricity to power the tank's four independent tracks (to reduce the possibility of a mobility-kill) via eight electric motors, each putting out 180 horsepower. The BMP-120 can reach 70kmph on a paved road, while 45kmph is retained on rough surfaces. The BMP-120 carries an integral underbelly bulldozer blade, allowing it to make its own hull-down position. Upgrades None. Category:Blog posts